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OPIOID LEGISLATION SIGNED A YEAR AGO TODAY: The president signed legislation to fight the opioid crisis a year ago. Elected officials would like to see the government go even further in offering relief to communities that are struggling.
There were encouraging signs that overdose deaths began falling last year for the first time since 1990, but it’s still too soon to tell whether that represented a blip or a turnaround in overall trends. The death toll was 47,590 in 2018.
Congress passed two other bills in recent years, aside from last year’s SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act. The latest legislation came with $8.5 billion in funding, but several presidential candidates, including Elizabeth Warren, Amy Klobuchar, and Beto O’Rourke just this morning, have called for pouring upwards of $100 billion over 10 years to fight the crisis. Bernie Sanders thinks drug company executives should face jail time, and other candidates have said companies should be fined out of business.
With Congress’ healthcare agenda focused on drug pricing and surprise medical bills, there has been less talk about opioids. Meanwhile, there’s major litigation underway that would help communities combat the crisis.
Thursday morning, Republican Greg Walden released a list of a dozen bills he’d like to see passed.
They include measures to provide more oversight regarding where prescription drugs are sold and letting certain treatment facilities use telemedicine to help patients.
Walden also wants to give doctors access to more medical records so they can see if a patient is on an opioid or has a history of addiction. There’s a proposed rule to do this through the Trump administration, but Congress could codify it.
Good morning and welcome to the Washington Examiner’s Daily on Healthcare! This newsletter is written by senior healthcare reporter Kimberly Leonard (@LeonardKL) and healthcare reporter Cassidy Morrison (@CassMorrison94). You can reach us with tips, calendar items, or suggestions at [email protected]. If someone forwarded you this email and you’d like to receive it regularly, you can subscribe here.
DRUG PRICING BILL WON’T GET A VOTE NEXT WEEK AFTER ALL: We’ve confirmed with a senior Democratic aide that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s bill to negotiate drug prices won’t be taken up for a floor vote until the next work period, which would be sometime in mid-November.
VERMA STONEWALLS HOUSE DEMOCRATS ABOUT OBAMACARE REPLACEMENT PLAN: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Seema Verma faced tough questioning from Democrats on a House oversight panel Wednesday about what the Trump administration would do if the Affordable Care Act were to be ruled unconstitutional. Several Democrats tried to glean information about a supposed replacement plan from Verma, but she only said: “I’m not going to get into any specifics of the plan but the president’s agenda on healthcare has been in action from day one… We have planned for a number of different scenarios but we need to hear from the courts.”
HOUSE PANEL ADVANCES VAPING TAX PLAN: The House Ways and Means Committee voted 25 to 14 to advance a first-of-its kind bill to impose taxes on nicotine products, including vaping liquids. Democrat Tom Suozzi, the bill’s lead author, said the objective of the bill is to hike up the prices of vaping products, like Juul pods, to the point at which they’re too expensive for young people to buy. The tax would amount to $50.33 per 1,810 mg. For reference, the average Juul pod, with 5% nicotine content and 0.7 mL of liquid, would be taxed at $1.15.
FDA PROPOSES WARNINGS FOR BREAST IMPLANTS: The FDA has proposed using a black box warning, the strictest warning the agency can place on a product that has known risks associated with it, on breast implant packaging.
NIH AND GATES FOUNDATION DEDICATE MILLIONS TO GENE-BASED CURES FOR SICKLE CELL AND HIV: The National Institutes of Health will funnel $100 million into research for gene-based cures for sickle cell disease and HIV. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is matching the donation. The goal is not only to create cures for both but also to make the cures globally accessible, especially to under-developed nations.
ANTI-ABORTION GROUP LAUNCHES TITLE IX PUSH TO EDUCATE STUDENTS : Students for Life of America launched an education campaign to inform students that Title IX says they may not be discriminated against, including in student housing or scholarships, just because they are pregnant or parenting. The latest move by the organization looks at policies outside of abortion restrictions to encourage women who face an unplanned pregnancy to choose motherhood or adoption.
JUDGE BLOCKS OKLAHOMA ‘ABORTION REVERSAL’ LAW: It was otherwise set to go into effect Nov. 1 and would have obligated doctors to tell women about how to reverse medication abortions. There is no method approved by the FDA to reverse abortions, but anti-abortion groups have encouraged women who change their minds to take repeated doses of progesterone after they take the first of two abortion pills.
SANDERS AND WARREN LEAD PUSH FOR COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTER FUNDING: The presidential candidates, along with Democratic Rep. Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts, led a letter from 85 congressional colleagues asking leaders to boost the five-year extension for the Community Health Center Fund, the National Health Service Corps, and the Teaching Health Center Graduate Medical Education program. The programs are set to expire Nov. 21. Lawmakers who signed the letter want leadership to switch to the more generous package that Sanders has introduced, rather than the current spending bill advancing through Congress.
The Rundown
Associated Press Consider a side of insurance with your health insurance
The Wall Street Journal Facial-recognition software was able to identify patients from MRI scans
Politico When reform hits real life
The New York Times Medicaid covers a million fewer children. Baby Elijah was one of them.
Stateline In opioid settlements, Suboxone plays a leading role
Calendar
FRIDAY | Oct. 25
Noon. Reserve Officers Association Building. 1 Constitution Ave NE. Alliance for Health Policy congressional briefing on “Modernizing Medicare Part D.” Details
WEDNESDAY | Oct. 30
10 a.m. National Press Club. 529 14th St. NW. Physician organizations will call for tighter regulations on e-cigarettes. Details.
